7 MUST-TRY DISHES WHEN YOU’RE IN SINGAPORE

Food and Singapore are inseparable. So if you love to eat, it will be highly unlikely not to love Singapore.

Credit to SG Food on Foot

#1 Teochew Fishball Noodle. My all-time favorite Singaporean food! When I first tried Teochew fishball noodle in Singapore at ION Orchard’s food court, I was so amazed by the bouncy and airy texture of the fish balls! They’re generally made from raw fish, mixed into paste, shaped into balls and either boiled or fried. Fish ball noodle either comes with soup or dry-tossed, but my personal favorite is the dry-tossed version, sprinkled with with some green onion and a few pieces of lard – damn shiok! Source: studyabroadcorner.com

Credit to Aroma Cookery

#2 Chicken Rice. Although it’s just a simple combination of boiled chicken, paired with flavorful rice and sauce, this Hainanese influenced dish, ranks as one of the most popular and beloved dishes to eat in Singapore (it’s also extremely popular in Thailand, known as khao man gai). I think just about everyone in Singapore has their own favorite version or favorite restaurant or hawker stall that serves it, each varying by the way the chicken tastes, the texture, the taste or oiliness of the rice, and then most definitely the different styles of sauces – some more spicy, others more gingery or salty. When it comes to chicken rice for me, I prefer a chicken rice that isn’t too oily, and I like my chicken not too soft, but to still have some texture to it. For the sauce, I’m a bit of a chili and ginger addict, and so the more heat and more ginger that I can add to my chicken rice, the more happy I am. Source: Migrationology.com

Credit to Nick Chee

#3 Bak Chor Mee. Bak chor mee is actually a dialect for minced pork noodles. A good rendition of this popular Teochew dish will have fluffy minced pork, succulent stewed mushrooms, springy noodles in a dark vinegary sauce. Let the hawker know if you wish to omit the sliced liver pieces. Source: Misstamchiak.com

#5 Hokkien Mee. Hokkien Mee is one of the most popular fried noodle hawker dishes in Singapore. It’s a dish that has roots in China’s Fujian province (which is where the Hokkien people are originally from), that has now been adopted into Malaysia and Singapore. Hokkien Mee includes a mixture of both yellow egg noodles and white rice noodles that are fried in a wok with egg, often pieces of seafood (usually squid and shrimp), and bean sprouts. Different hawkers prepare it slightly different, some stir frying it more dry, and others making it with a gravy sauce. Hokkien Mee is then typically served with some sambal chili sauce, plus a calamansi to squeeze on top for a extra citrusy sourness. Source: Migrationology.com

Credit to Hanna Meiners

#6 Crabs. You cannot leave Singapore without tasting our Crabs. I am not just talking about Chilli Crabs, I am talking about Crabs from all round the world cooked in a myriad of ways! The favorite crab here is still the giant Sri Lankan Crab, but if you head to a seafood restaurant nowadays, you might come face to face with the Giant “Predator” like Tasmanian King Crab, Dungeness Crab, Blue Swimmer or Alaskan King Crab. You can pick any of these and ask for them to be cooked in 10 different styles! The most famous style is the ever popular Chilli Crab which is the de facto National Dish of Singapore. But among Singaporeans, Black Pepper Crabs, Crab Bee Hoon and Salted Egg Crabs are all the rage. Source: ieatishootipost.sg

Credit to Weiyu Lim

#7 Char Kway Teow. When it comes to stir fried noodles in Singapore, one of the ultimate local favorites is char kway teow, a dish of flat wide rice noodles, stir fried with egg, a sauce of dark soy sauce, shrimp paste, a bit of chili, and often some Chinese sausage and blood cockles to finish it off. Stir frying batches of char kway teow takes some serious skills… I’ve tried frying the sticky wide rice noodles before, only to end up with a big gooey lump at the end – so it really takes wok and heat skills, and a knowledge of the ingredients to be able to fry a good plate of char kway teow. For myself, I’m not a huge char kway teow lover, mainly because it’s often a little sweet for me, not spicy enough, and it’s too soft of a texture (I think overall I prefer Hokkien Mee as my noodle choice). However, char kway teow is one of the standard and beloved hawkers foods to eat in Singapore. Source: Migrationology.com